White-crowned Sparrow and Hooded Mergansers

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Well, the first half of my Thanksgiving break hasn’t exactly been what I expected.  Instead of lots of early-morning photo shoots, we had lots of rainy-day sleep-in mornings.  The cats have been spoiled rotten in the past few days!  It turns out, hanging out in your own backyard can have its advantages.  Like when a White-crowned Sparrow wanders in and eats at your feeders.  This was the first time we’d seen a White-crowned Sparrow in our backyard and I hope he sticks around.

First Chipping Sparrow in my Backyard!
First White-crowned Sparrow in my Backyard!

Note: This bird serves as my reminder to periodically clean my windows…this was shot through the glass pane, through some tall bushes that I’ll trim back as soon as they stop blooming, and against a background of vegetation that was blowing in the wind.  Yet my wonderful new 7D Mark II camera still snapped to focus on the tiny bird!!

Hooded Merganser Pair
Hooded Merganser Pair

Another fun winter bird has arrived this week – the Hooded Mergansers.  These diving ducks come each winter to a small retention pond in the back of my neighborhood.  I’ve gotten used to the strange looks from the golfers as they drive by and see me lying flat on my belly with my lens focused across the pond.  The hoodies are pretty skittish, so you have to lie there for a while before they’ll give you close-ups.  Or you can call Hubby to come walk around the pond to shoo them over to your side…

Male Hooded Merganser
Male Hooded Merganser

The male Hoodies are my favorites, with their striking black and white markings (a good exposure challenge!)  In this shot, the male lifted his hood to show off his big white patch.  I didn’t get to stay as long as I would have liked, as the birds spooked and flew off.  But I will definitely be back….if it ever stops raining! :)

4 thoughts on “White-crowned Sparrow and Hooded Mergansers

  1. It’s great to see our winter birds return! Congratulations on the new camera. I understand it’s pretty special.

    I know I’m late but hope your Thanksgiving was Happy! (Leftovers are my favorite part….)

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